CSX donates land in Pennsylvania for 9/11 National Memorial Trail

The September 11th National Memorial Trail is a 1,300-mile commemorative trail linking the National September 11th Memorial at the World Trade Center site in New York City, the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington County, VA and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County, PA. and it just got some good news from CSX railroad last week when they agreed to donate 130 acres of undeveloped land, including miles of railroad ROW, in Pennsylvania to the project.

The properties CSX is contributing to the 9/11 trail traverse approximately 5.6 miles of undeveloped land between Garrett and Berlin, Penn., and four miles of undeveloped land between Berlin and Shanksville, Penn. The properties were previously used as a right-of-way for railroad operations. CSX has owned many of the properties for 145 years or more, since the 1870s.

It is envisioned as a multi-use corridor for hiking and bicycling and features an accompanying quiet, back-road motor route for driving, motorcycling and public and tour transportation. The Trail also has been designed to link historic points of interest along the route where the resiliency and courage inherent in American character have shone throughout our history.

The southern leg of the trail begins at the Pentagon Memorial extending northwest along the 184-mile Chesapeake & Ohio National Historical Park (www.nps.gov/CHOH) then connecting the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage (www.GAPtrail.org) completed to Pittsburgh. It is planned to proceed north for approximately 25 miles from the Great Allegheny Passage near Rockwood to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

The 337-mile eastern leg from New York City’s National September 11 Memorial & Museum to the Pentagon Memorial would align with the East Coast Greenway.

The Great Allegheny Passage is in Garrett, by the way - so this land will make up almost all of the new right-of-way needed to connect the Pentagon to Shanksville.

Are you talking about the part along Washington Blvd? That could be better for sure.

I did recently find out why they left that stub of an old access ramp just north of the Pentagon (here). It's because the storm drain access was that far in, and moving that would be prohibitively expensive. So, they left a little bit of road to move storm water. I would have preferred something greener.

Plus the whole stretch is a sub-standard width, and the part that gets you to the 9-11 memorial has a sudden 90 degree turn into two sets of closely-spaced bollards several of which have CHAINS between them (enjoy coming across that at night in the rain).